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Social Thermodynamics: The Physics of Inequality
Description
Another team of researchers traced the origins of inequality using what they call the "Energy Hierarchy Inequality Hypothesis." They discovered that inequality isn't just a side effect of human greed—it's the predictable result of an ancient algorithm we've been unconsciously following for thousands of years.
The algorithm works like this:
- More energy per person → Larger institutions
- Larger institutions → Deeper hierarchies
- Deeper hierarchies → Exponential concentration of power
- Concentrated power → Massive inequality
This isn't opinion. It's mathematics. And it's been running in the background of human civilization since we invented agriculture.
For hundreds of thousands of years, our hunter-gatherer ancestors lived in egalitarian groups. Not because they were morally superior, but because the energy equation made hierarchy unstable. There simply wasn't enough surplus energy to support permanent power structures.
References:
Energy, hierarchy and the origin of inequality
Thermodynamics 2.0: Bridging the natural and social sciences
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